Safety device for elevator or mine cages.



G. S. BURGANV SAFETY DEvwE FOR ELEVATOR 0 MINE GAGES. APPLICATION FILEDAUG. 11. 1906.

922,452. Patented 25,1909.

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G. s. BURGAN. SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATOR 0R MINE GAGES.

APPLIOATION FILED AUGLII- 1906.

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G. S. BURGAN. SAFETY 1mm P011 ELEVATOR on MINE cums.

Patented May 25, 1909.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 11. 1906.

arwentoz 6.51 Fw'gan S N x I WM GEORGE S. BURGAN, OF MINERS MILLS,PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATOR OR MINE CAGES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 11, 1906.

Patented May 25, 1909.

Serial No. 330,167.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. BURGAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Miners Mills, in the county of Luzerne and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in SafetyDevices for Elevator or Mine Cages, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to an attachment for elevators, and especiallythat type of elevator used in mines, the object of the invention beingan automatic catch which will stop the elevator-cage upon the breakingof the hoisting cable and lock the same against any downward movement.

The invention consists of the novel features of construction hereinafterfullydescribed, pointed out in the claims, and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a portion of an elevator frame andguides in which the frame or cage travels, and showing in eleva tion myattachment. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is anend elevation of my attachment in position upon an elevator-cage. Fig. 4is a central vertical section. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail elevations inoutline illustrating slight modifications in the gripping members. Fig.7 is a detail sectional view of the locking nut, in position. upon theend of a shaft. Fig. 8 is a detail plan view of a portion of a shaft,and of certain locking mechanism carried thereby. Fig. 9 is a side viewof said locking mechanism, the shaft being shown in section.

In these drawings A indicates the guides between which the elevator cagetravels and A indicates side members of said cage connected by a centercross-bar A and the said side members are recessed upon opposite sides,one of said recesses being shown at A Through the cross-bar A extends asleeve B downwardly open and in the lower end portion of which works aplug B. Adjacent its upper end the plug is provided with acircumferential groove B and within the sleeve B is a coil spring Bwhich bears at its upper end upon the top of the sleeve B and at itslower end upon the plug B. A draw bar C passes loosely through thesleeve and plug and has connected to it at its upper end a cable C andupon its lower end suitable jam nuts C one of which bears upon thebottom of the plug B. When the weight of the cage is upon the cable Cthe draw bar will be lifted slightly forcing the plug B against thespring B and compressing the spring.

Shafts D are carried by the cage parallel to the cross bar A and in alower plane, the shafts being journaled in suitable bearings carried bythe side members A. Centrally fixed upon the shafts D are gear wheels D.Hangers E are supported from the cross piece A and in these hangers arepivoted toothed segments E, which mesh respectively with the gear wheelsD and which are provided with o positely extending arms E the free ends0' which are slightly rounded and engage the groove B upon oppositesides of the plug B.

Suitable rack bars F are secured in any desired manner to the guidemembers A said bars being arranged upon opposite sides of the guides A.Upon the shafts D are fixed gripping members F which extend inwardly anddownwardly and at their lower ends are provided. with teeth adapted toengage the teeth of the bars F. To normally hold the gripping members inposition for immediate engagement with the bars F, arms G provided withthreaded portions are fixed to the shafts D and weights G are threadedup on said arms and by adjusting the weights with reference to theirdistance from the axis of the shafts, the gripping members F will becounterbalanced so that their toothed ends will be held adjacent therack bars F, but slightly spaced therefrom. Brackets II are also carriedby the cross bar A and upon opposite sides of the sleeve B and to saidbrackets are pivoted intermediate their ends levers II and the innerends of these levers rest in the groove B while the outer ends of thelevers rest in the recesses A To look the gripping members F inengagement with the rack bars F and prevent any jarfrom disengaging themafter they have been thrown into locking )osition and also to brace theshafts D, I provide connecting bars J, the ends of which are bifurcatedas shown at J, and extend around the shafts D, the said shafts rotatingwithin the straps formed by said bifurcated ends. Ratchet wheels J arefixed to the shafts and rotated in the bifurcations J and are engaged bypawls J which are pivoted upon the bars J and these awls prevent reverserotation of the shafts In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown two slightmodifications, showing in the Fig. 5 a gripping member K, which isprovided at its ivoted end with a weight K and the last or owermosttooth upon said grip ing member is formed with a blunt point 2 whichprevents the gripping member from being forced into a wooden bar Fcarried by the guide A and employed in place of the metal rack bars F.It will be obvious that the counterweight K fixed upon the grip ingmember will take the lace of the arms and weights G. In the form shownin Fig. 6, I have omitted the counter-weight entirely by forming thegripping member of a piece of angled metal, one arm L carrying the teethwhile the other arm L serves as the counter-weight,

' and the arm L is also provided with a lowermost tooth blunted as shownat L.

In Fi 7 I have illustrated a form of lock nut for locking the shaft D inposition, and in this view D re resents a threaded end of the shaft uponw ich is threaded a nut D provided with an exteriorly threaded andlongitudinally split sleeve D one of the slots being shown at D and overthis split or slotted sleeve is threaded a lock nut D, which binds thesplit members of the sleeve to the threaded portion D of the shaft.

The operation of the device is as follows Upon the breaking of the cableC the spring B will force downwardly the plug B and this will carry withit the inner ends of the arms E thus artially rotating the segments E,and t e gear wheels D, and the shafts D in the direction shown by thearrows and also throwing the gripping members F in the direction shownby the arrows upon Fig. 3, and these gripping members being forced intoengagement with the rack bars F, will prevent the cage from falling. Atthe same time the inner ends of the levers H will be moved downwardlyand their outer ends which extend into the recesses A will be lifted andwill be brought into binding engagement with the inner faces of theguides A and will also aid in supporting the cage. It will also beunderstood that when the partial rotation of the shafts D throws thegripping members F into engagement with the rack bars F, that reverserotation of the shafts and consequent disengagement of the grippingmembers from the rack bar is prevented by the engagement of the pawls Jwith the ratchets J.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with an elevator cage and of guide bars between whichthe cage travels, of rotatable shafts, said shafts being arranged uponopposite sides of the guide bars, grip mg members fixed to said shafts,gear wheels on the shafts, a sleeve carried by the top of the cage, aplug movable therein, a draw bar working loosely through said sleeve andplug and held against withdrawal tatable shafts, gear wheels fixedthereon,

gripping members fixed to the shafts, ratchet wheels carried by saidshafts, bars connecting the shafts, the ends of the bars being bentaround the shafts and the shafts rotating loosely in said end portions,pawls carried by said bars and engaging the ratchets and preventingreverse rotation of the shafts, and means for giving said shafts apartial rota tion in one direction upon the breaking of a cable.

GEORGE S. BURGAN. Witnesses:

Monnrs E. WALSH, GEORGE H. WALSH.

s, and arms carried 79

